Doing Disneyland on a dime

Joanne Elves, Calgary Herald10.14.2013

Standing in front of Sleeping Beauty Castle at Disneyland, where magical storybooks come alive, Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse welcome visitors from all over the world. Combining classic favorites and exciting additions, Disneyland park is an essential part of a Southern California vacation.

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The Happiest Place on Earth dug deeper into thrill-seekers' pockets this year by increasing the daily admission fee by a dash over five per cent. Now if you want to take a family of four to Disneyland, stepping into the park costs $356, or $368 at Disney World. Before you roll your eyes and say - "That's the end of that idea!" - let's just see how it stacks up against other theme parks and city fairs. I bet there is a way that you can still surprise the kids with a trip in the near future.

Comparing the price of one day at Disneyland to one day at the other big players, like Universal Studios or Sea World, shows that Disney prices are comparable. For a family of four to walk into Universal Studios is $356, while entering SeaWorld is $312.

Just comparing a day at our local big city celebration, the Calgary Stampede, is interesting. By the time an adult has walked through the gates, paid for 10 average-priced rides on the midway, paid for standing-room tickets for the afternoon rodeo and the nightly Grandstand Show, he/she will have shelled out at least $100 - and that doesn't include purchasing those little doughnuts. Add in the rest of the family and it's a hit to the pocket book and you have not seen Mickey.

At Disneyland, once you pay that gate admission, the entertainment and the rides are inclusive. To see how much value we could get out of one busy day in August, I added up all the attractions we rode on, watched or participated in. Of course, the hotel and airfare are not in this calculation, but I've included some ideas to save on those, too.

By staying at a Disneyland hotel or one of the "Good Neighbor Hotels," you can rush through the gates at least an hour before the rest of the guests. We did that and were amazed at how many of the popular attractions we could tick offthe list before the crowds came through. We had all of Tomorrowland wrapped up before the lines formed. That included two rides on Star Tours, Space Mountain, Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blasters and one ride on both Autopia and the cute Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage.

Crazy, huh? That gave us the rest of the day to capitalize on the FASTPASS system of line-jumping. You can either join the line for popular attractions like the Indiana Jones Temple of Doom or get a FASTPASS that virtually holds your place in line. Our FASTPASS gave us a few hours to ride the log boats through Pirates of the Caribbean to count how many times Captain Jack Sparrow appears, then watch The Royal Theatre, where Disney Princess Rapunzel presented her personal rendition of the story.

When our time to return to The Temple of Doom arrived, we had experienced four attractions, watched a play and rode down Main Street in a horse-drawn trolley.

Another way to avoid the lines is to find out which attractions now offer a singles line. If you don't mind sitting separately, you can move through the line pretty fast. That's how we got soaked on Splash Mountain.

Watching Broadway-like productions isn't what half the family likes, so while I enjoyed a coffee watching the new Mickey and the Magical Map song and dance live performance, they all sprinted off to Toontown.

By the time the larger-thanlife evening musical water show "Fantasmic" - featuring Mickey Mouse and that always scary Maleficent - concluded, we had packed in more than 15 attractions, a parade, two shows and that trolley ride. The fireworks featuring a flying Dumbo and Tinkerbell had yet to start.

To price those activities out separately would be well over the price of entry.

The next day, we were up early to take advantage of the same "Magic Morning" early admission in California Adventure and the new section of Cars Land. First on the list was the insanely popular Radiator Springs Racers. Were we up to the challenge? Oh yeah! Other ways to make your dollar stretch before you leave the comforts of home include:

Watch for airlines like Alaska to offer the "Kids fly free to Disneyland" program.

Use those air travel points you have been collecting!

Check for weekly specials on the www.Disney.ca site that offers deals to Canadians.

Check the airlines for vacation packages. Sometimes those are really great deals.

Watch the newspaper for "off season" vacation specials, like meal plans for free or hotel deals with the fourth night free.

Buy multi-day passes and park hoppers so you can take advantage of seeing it all over the span of a few days or week. Then incorporate more of your destination with trips to the beach or other inexpensive adventures.

Watch for early-morning offerings. The program changes throughout the year.

Importantly, make sure your little ones meet the minimum height requirement before you go. There is nothing more frustrating than shelling out the bucks and then figuring out many of the attractions are not available for your entire family.

The trip to Disneyland, any other theme park or, any destination beyond the mailbox is never going to be cheap, but clever planning on your part can make it the trip of a lifetime just a little more affordable.

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